Food and Beverage Packaging October 2011 : Page 6

Editor’s Note BOOKS, BAGS AND A MOVIE ABOUT PACKAGING love books, bookstores, libraries and one librarian, my wife. Today’s libraries are a multimedia resource way beyond books. On a recent visit to my local li-brary, I stopped by the DVD section and, on impulse, checked out the movie “Bag It—Is Your Life Too Plastic?” I also like movies, and this one seemed to be about packaging, more or less, and it looked like it could be interesting. I was right on both counts, and in fact it was as much about packaging as about bags. It was very interesting and even con-scious-raising. Bag It casts a cynical eye on grocery bags and on packaging, especially disposable packaging and particularly bottled water and other single-use packaging. The story is about Jeb Berrier, an average Joe and actor, who has an epiphany. His story Why make something begins in a simple way: Jeb buys a single cup that’s going to last only of peach yogurt and the grocery clerk bags it. This sets the whole tale in motion when a few minutes out of wonders about plastic bags, saying, “Just something that’s going to he because plastic is disposable it doesn’t mean last forever? that it just goes away.” The scene cuts to a landﬁ ll. “There is no away,” Jeb adds. Thus begins a journey as Jeb learns about plastic bags, plas-tics, packaging and related stuff. We do, too. Consumerism, waste and ocean pollution also play prominent roles. Even Bi-sphenol-A puts in a special guest appearance as a villain. At the core of this movie is this insightful question from Jeb: “Why make something that’s going to last only a few minutes out of something that’s going to last forever?” It stopped me in my tracks even though I was sitting down. Bag It is a thoughtful, amusing movie with a catchy soundtrack. And if that doesn’t butter your popcorn, then know it’s also largely about packaging. It’s one thing when the packaging industry defends itself against environmentalists, but is another thing altogether when it must defend itself against an average Jeb or Joe or Josephine, who repeats that age-old question we’ve all asked since we were kids and still need to ask, “Why?” The movie provides food for thought that’s often tough to swallow, not because it might not be true, but because it probably is true. If you are interested in packaging, this movie is worth your review, too. F&BP EDITORIAL RICK LINGLE Editor in Chief lingler@bnpmedia.com ELISABETH CUNEO Associate Editor cuneoe@bnpmedia.com SCOTT HILLING Senior Art Director FRANK MAYERAN Art Director ADVERTISING I MIKE BARR Group Publisher (630) 499-7392 barrm@bnpmedia.com RANDY GREEN Publisher/Midwest Sales Manager (248) 244-6498 greenr@bnpmedia.com GEORGE MISKO East Coast/Southeast Sales Manager (610) 866-6686 miskog@bnpmedia.com CRAIG ZEHNTNER West Coast Sales Manager ( 818) 403-6379 wnjla@aol.com KRISTINA LORIO Inside Sales (249) 786-1579 loriok@bnpmedia.com ERHARDT EISENACHER International Sales +49-228-2499860 info@eisenacher-medien.de CATHERINE WYNN Senior Classiﬁ ed Sales Manager (847) 405-4010 wynnc@bnpmedia.com BNP CUSTOM MEDIA GROUP Christopher Wilson (248) 244-8264 wilsonc@bnpmedia.com VINCE MICONI Advertising/Production Manager miconiv@bnpmedia.com CEDRIC BROWN Marketing Coordinator brownc@bnpmedia.com AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT KOURTNEY BELL Audience Development Manager STACEY NOOCHA Multimedia Coordinator CAROLYN M. ALEXANDER Audience Audit Coordinator For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: Phone: (847) 763-9534 or Fax: (847) 763-9538 E-mail: FBP@halldata.com Web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com LIST RENTAL Postal contact: KEVIN COLLOPY at 800-223-2194 x.684 or kevin.collopy@infogroup.com Email contact: MICHAEL COSTANTINO at 800-223-2194 x.748 or michael.costantino@infogroup.com CORPORATE DIRECTORS JOHN R. SCHREI Publishing RITA M. FOUMIA Corporate Strategy SCOTT KESLER Information Technology ARIANE CLAIRE Marketing VINCENT M. MICONI Production LISA L. PAULUS Finance MICHAEL T. POWELL Creative NIKKI SMITH Directories MARLENE J. WITTHOFT Human Resources BETH A. SUROWIEC Clear Seas Research BNP MEDIA HELPS PEOPLE SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITH SUPERIOR INFORMATION For Volume Reprints Contact JILL L. DEVRIES Corporate Reprint Manager Phone: 248-224-1726 Fax: 248-244-3934 E-mail: devriesj@bnpmedia.com How to contact RICK LINGLE Editor in Chief lingler@bnpmedia.com FOOD & BEVERAGE PACKAGING Mail: 155 Pﬁ ngsten Rd., Suite 205 Deerﬁ eld IL 60015 Phone: (847) 405-4000 Fax: (847) 405-4100 Web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com 6 FOOD & BEVERA GE P A CKA GING OCT OBER 2011 WWW . FOOD ANDBEVERA GEP A CKA GING . COM

Editor’s Note

BOOKS, BAGS AND A MOVIE ABOUT PACKAGING I love books, bookstores, libraries and one librarian, my wife. Today’s libraries are a multimedia resource way beyond books. On a recent visit to my local library, I stopped by the DVD section and, on impulse, checked out the movie “Bag It—Is Your Life Too Plastic?” I also like movies, and this one seemed to be about packaging, more or less, and it looked like it could be interesting. I was right on both counts, and in fact it was as much about packaging as about bags. It was very interesting and even conscious- raising. Bag It casts a cynical eye on grocery bags and on packaging, especially disposable packaging and particularly bottled water and other single-use packaging. The story is about Jeb Berrier, an average Joe and actor, who has an epiphany. His story begins in a simple way: Jeb buys a single cup of peach yogurt and the grocery clerk bags it. This sets the whole tale in motion when he wonders about plastic bags, saying, “Just because plastic is disposable it doesn’t mean that it just goes away.” The scene cuts to a landfill. “There is no away,” Jeb adds. Thus begins a journey as Jeb learns about plastic bags, plastics, packaging and related stuff. We do, too. Consumerism, waste and ocean pollution also play prominent roles. Even Bisphenol- A puts in a special guest appearance as a villain. At the core of this movie is this insightful question from Jeb: “Why make something that’s going to last only a few minutes out of something that’s going to last forever?” It stopped me in my tracks even though I was sitting down. Bag It is a thoughtful, amusing movie with a catchy soundtrack.And if that doesn’t butter your popcorn, then know it’s also largely about packaging. It’s one thing when the packaging industry defends itself against environmentalists, but is another thing altogether when it must defend itself against an average Jeb or Joe or Josephine, who repeats that age-old question we’ve all asked since we were kids and still need to ask, “Why?” The movie provides food for thought that’s often tough to swallow, not because it might not be true, but because it probably is true. If you are interested in packaging, this movie is worth your review, too.

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